[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis: Synod on Synodality ‘truly important’ despite being ‘of little interest to the general public’

Catholic News Agency ^ | August 26, 2023 | Courtney Mares

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[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis: Synod on Synodality ‘truly important’ despite being ‘of little interest to the general public’

Pope Francis acknowledged Saturday that the upcoming Synod on Synodality may be “of little interest to the general public,” but underlined that the synod is “truly important” for the Catholic Church.

“I am well aware that speaking of a ‘Synod on Synodality’ may seem something abstruse, self-referential, excessively technical, and of little interest to the general public,” Pope Francis said on Aug. 26.

“But what has happened over the past year, which will continue with the assembly next October and then with the second stage of Synod 2024, is something truly important for the Church.”

The pope spoke about the significance of the synod nearly one month ahead of the first global Synod on Synodality assembly taking place at the Vatican Oct. 4–28.

It is the first of two assemblies that culminate the Church’s multiyear, worldwide undertaking during which Catholics were asked to submit feedback at diocesan, national, and continental levels.

“We have opened our doors, we have offered everyone the opportunity to participate, we have taken into account everyone's needs and suggestions. We want to contribute together to build the Church where everyone feels at home, where no one is excluded,” Pope Francis said.

“That word of the Gospel that is so important: everyone. Everyone, everyone: there are no first-, second- or third-class Catholics, no. All together. Everyone. It is the Lord's invitation.”

The pope underlined that the Church needs to “get used to listening to each other, to talking, not cutting our heads off for a word” and “to listen and discuss in a mature way.”

“This is a grace we all need in order to move forward. And it is something the Church today offers the world, a world so often so incapable of making decisions, even when our very survival is at stake,” he said.

“We are trying to learn a new way of living relationships, listening to one another to hear and follow the voice of the Spirit.”

To explain the significance of the Synod on Synodality, Pope Francis described the synod as “a journey that St. Paul VI began at the end of the [Vatican II] Council when he created the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops because he had realized that in the Western Church synodality had disappeared, whereas in the Eastern Church they have this dimension.”

“And this years-long journey — 60 years — is bearing great fruit,” he added.

Pope Francis spoke about the upcoming synod while accepting an award from Italian journalists at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, noting that he usually declines awards and honors.

Pope Francis accepts the “È Giornalismo” prize from Italian journalists at the Apostolic Palace on Aug. 26, 2023. Vatican Media

“You must know that, even before becoming bishop of Rome, I used to decline the offer of awards. I never received any, I did not want to. And I have continued to do so even as pope. There is, however, one reason that prompted me to accept yours, and that is the urgency of constructive communication, which fosters the culture of encounter and not of confrontation; the culture of peace and not of war; the culture of openness to the other and not of prejudice,” he said.

“Disinformation is one of the sins of journalism,” he added while enumerating other “journalistic sins,” including slander, defamation, and a “love of scandal.”

“We need to spread a culture of encounter, a culture of dialogue, a culture of listening to the other and his or her reasons,” he said. “Digital culture has brought us so many new possibilities for exchange, but it also risks turning communication into slogans.”

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“We have opened our doors, we have offered everyone the opportunity to participate, we have taken into account everyone's needs and suggestions. We want to contribute together to build the Church where everyone feels at home, where no one is excluded,” Pope Francis said.

“That word of the Gospel that is so important: everyone. Everyone, everyone: there are no first-, second- or third-class Catholics, no. All together. Everyone. It is the Lord's invitation.”

Everyone except for those "rigid" traditional Catholics.

The Pope Francis Little Book of Insults

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Frankenchurch Sin-Nod Barf Alert

[fortes fortuna juvat]

“We have opened our doors, we have offered everyone the opportunity to participate, we have taken into account everyone’s needs and suggestions. We want to contribute together to build the Church where everyone feels at home, where no one is excluded,” Pope Francis said.
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The ravings of a demented minion of SATAN! Would everyone include those who wish to blow up the Vatican and crucify every devout Catholic on the planet? We have in our midst modern day equivalents of Vlad the Impaler. If they were still in the churches would these fiends also be welcome at the altar rails of Catholic churches? Peronally I pray every evening for an immediate end to his scurrilous and heretical pontificate!

[F450-V10]

I had no idea that mean (as in average), mean (nasty) man had issued so many insults.

[sneakers]

Everyone except for those "rigid" traditional Catholics.

That is EXACTLY what I thought when I read that!!!